Screenings

We’re proud to announce that the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago will be hosting a screening series leading up to the conference. The screening calendar is as follows:

February 27, 2009: “Travelers.”
Contemporary film and video art from around the world stages exploratory encounters in works of imagination, transformation, and disaster. From epic voyages to strange arrivals, from animation to performance, these meditations on (human) nature take the form of journeys that ultimately reflect on contemporary global society and identity. Sponsored by the University of Chicago Arts Council.

March 6, 2009: Nature Delineated: An Evening with David Gatten.
Part algorithmic and part lyrical, David Gatten’s film techniques run the gamut from rephotographing microscopic air bubbles in 16mm cement splices to harvesting film strips thrown into coastal waters and nibbled by spottail bass. His approach is subtle, and wholly independent, but his films are staggering in their consideration of the history of the American landscape, the history of media, and intellectual history as a whole. Co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Arts Council and the Mass Culture Workshop.

March 13, 2009: Local Landscapes.
2 film programs featuring work by Bill Brown, Thomas Comerford, and Deborah Stratman.
These two programs of films by local artists Bill Brown, Thomas Comerford, and Deborah Stratman collectively investigate the varied relationships of urban spaces and rural landscapes to historical narratives of power and control. In works ranging from experimental shorts to documentaries, these two screenings highlight a significant thread within Chicago’s underground film community: the reinvestigation of familiar locations and landmarks. Brown, Comerford, and Stratman will be present after the screenings for a roundtable discussion. Sponsored by the University of Chicago Arts Council and co-presented with the Experimental Film Club.